


searching for a sweet surrender (but this is not the end)

by nouiiam



Category: One Direction (Band), The Voice (UK) RPF
Genre: AND HARRY IS BLAKE, AND I GOT REALLY EXCITED ABOUT WRITING THIS, AND NIALL IS SHAKIRA, AU, BECAUSE LOUIS IS ADAM, Famous Harry, Famous Louis, Friends to Lovers, GUYS GUYS, I wrote it, M/M, here it is, idk what else to tag this as?, it mentions Zayn singing beyonce at some point, now for some real tags, okay so i watched an interview with blake adam usher and shakira, so so so, thought i should tell you that, zayn and liam are actually romeo and juliet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-10
Updated: 2014-08-10
Packaged: 2018-02-12 15:49:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 18,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2115720
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nouiiam/pseuds/nouiiam
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>Louis Tomlinson and Harry Styles, the two most loved coaches on The Voice UK known for their banter on the show and best friendship off. Louis’s determined to win and finally end Harry’s winning streak with Zayn Malik on his team, but Harry’s flirting and Liam Payne have different plans.</i><br/> </p><p>— Or an AU based off the Voice where Louis’s Adam, Harry’s Blake, Niall’s Shakira, Zayn and Liam have a cliche Romeo/Juliet love story and Louis’s too old for pathetic pining.</p>
            </blockquote>





	searching for a sweet surrender (but this is not the end)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [september_song](https://archiveofourown.org/users/september_song/gifts).



> alright, so, everyone knows Blake and Adam's bromance on the Voice US right? basically, i based Louis and Harry off Adam and Blake respectively. Constant teasing, loved up moments, the lot. 
> 
> I tried to get the show as accurate as possible to the UK version of the show, but idk. Let's hope for the best!!
> 
> (newly dedicated to jazz ziamsie because she is amazing and i love her lots and lots:) )

 

"Louis Tomlinson, we meet again." Louis glances up from his cell phone, smirking when he sees twenty-three year old Harry Styles standing in front of him.

 

Harry Styles, indie singer and songwriter, four time Grammy award winner, seven Brit awards and four platinum albums. He's also one of the well-loved judges on The Voice UK. Charming and cheeky, the best way to describe him. Louis might add annoying to that list. Actually, there's probably a lot of things Louis would add to that list, but he doesn't really have the time for all of that."Harold, always a pleasure," Louis replies sarcastically. "Ready to lose this season?" Harry was pretty famous, sure, but Louis was easily at the same level. In fact, he's already established with Harry that he was slightly above his level. He's won  _five_  Grammys ("Sorry Harry, I can't hear you over my five Grammy awards."), nine Brit awards ("Remember when I beat you in two categories for the Brits?"), and has a total of seven albums, five of them going platinum and three of them earning the number one spot in America. In Harry's defense, Louis had been in the music business a few years longer than Harry, giving the older lad an advantage. Louis never missed an opportunity to brag."If I remember correctly," Harry starts and Louis knows exactly where he's going with this. "I've won the last two seasons." Louis grimaces. That's possibly the only thing Harry has over Louis."Enjoy it while it lasts," Louis mutters, returning his attention to his phone. Maybe if he ignores Harry, he'll go away.Don't get him wrong, it's not like he hates Harry. The two of them were very close, in fact. This was just the way their relationship was, banter all of the time.Everyone loved it. And by everyone, Louis means  _everyone_. It was part of the reason why the show's ratings went up every season. It was something everyone looked forward to during the blind auditions and the show in general. Louis and Harry's bromance had captured everyone's attention and they just went with it, on-camera and off."Oh I will. Especially after my team wins this season," Harry says. "Face it, Lou, Team Harry is undefeatable." Someone clears their throat from beside Louis and Harry, gaining both boys' attention."I won the first season," Niall says with a grin, propping his feet up on the front of his chair. "Cher won second. Don't forget."Louis rolls his eyes and places his phone on the front of his chair. Okay, so maybe he was the only judge to have not won a season yet. Niall won first, Cher won second and Harry's won third and fourth. But season five was his moment, he knew it. He just needed to find the perfect singer and he'd be all set. When they'd begin filming the blind auditions, his chance would begin."Undefeatable," Harry repeats, ignoring Niall. "See you out on the playing field, Tomlinson." Harry winks, walking across to the other end where his chair was.Louis scowls, flipping Harry off while his back is turned and leaning back in his chair. He was determined to beat Harry this time. He would just have to be extremely picky with who he chose for his team. Should be easy enough.

* * *

 

  
They're an hour into auditions and he doesn't have anyone. It's not like he hasn't turned his chair around, he has plenty of times, but Harry's a dick and decides to turn when he does. And if it's not Harry stealing them, it's Niall and Cher. He can't win if these fuckers are going to steal his team members.

 

"Hey Lou, nice team you've got going!" Harry yells from his chair. The audience laughs and Louis just shakes his head and sticks his tongue out at Harry. He won't be making fun of him when Louis's wins.Their chairs turn back around after the last performer left the stage, having been added to Niall's team.Louis sighs as the lights dim once again, the audiences cheers telling him when another performer was on stage. The beat to Climax by Usher begins playing and Louis immediately sits up straight, interested in where this was going. He glances over at Harry, the younger boy slowly nodding along and waiting for the person to sing." _Going nowhere fast. We’ve reached the climax. Were together now we’re undone. Won’t commit so we choose to run away. Do we separate? Don’t wanna give in so we both gave up. Can’t take it back. It’s too late. We’ve reached the climax, climax._ "They both hit their buttons as soon as he does. Harry makes eye contact with Louis, sending a smirk. Louis returns it with a glare. Harry just  _has_  to pull this bullshit, doesn't he. This guy has the  _perfect_  voice (and the perfect face once Louis takes a look at him) and Harry decides he wants to just take him from Louis. No, he won't let that happen.This guy, his voice is practically  _flawless._  Louis isn't sure how he isn't already famous, honestly. His high notes are on point and his voices moves so smoothly when he sings. He doesn't want this audition to end anytime soon.Cher turns around as well and Louis half expects Niall to turn, just to piss him off even further. This guy was  _his_. Louis has mentally clained him and the other coaches aren't respecting that, especially Harry. They're divas, all of them.The song ends moments later and Niall's the only coach that hadn't turned for this guy. Niall is Louis's new favorite. If he doesn't win, Niall should.Louis stands on his chair and turns in Harry's direction. "You  _fucker,_  he's mine!" He exclaims, crossing his arms. Harry raises an eyebrow in amusement, shaking his head and looking to the bloke on stage."Excuse him, he's very small and feisty," Harry says. Louis sits back down in his seat and scoffs, flipping Harry off and refocusing his attention on the lad in front of him."What's your name?" Louis asks before Harry can mock him even more. "How old are you? Where are you from? C'mon mate, give us the details!" The guy turns to Louis and smiles sheepishly, trying to keep cool."Zayn. Malik. Zayn Malik. I'm twenty five and I'm from Bradford, England," He says and Louis nods. Zayn was absolute perfection. Not only was his voice possibly the best Louis's ever heard, but he was just  _gorgeous_  as well. His cheekbones were sharp, not a single hair was out of place and he had so many  _tattoos_  covering his tan skin. Louis wants this guy in more ways than just on his team."A Yorkshire Lad, this one's mine," He says, grinning. "I like you, Zayn. You've got a very R&B voice, it's amazing. You're the best I've heard on this show in the past four seasons.""I think I could do a lot with you, Zayn. I've worked with plenty of R&B artists and I really think you could go far in this competition if you choose me as your coach. Even win," He explains further. "Also, Harry's a hipster and no one wants to deal with that.""Oi, shut up Tomlinson," Harry says, narrowing his eyes at the older singer. "I don't think he'd want to go with a coach that's lost every season.""Alright, that's a fair comment, but in the future I'd rather if you just fuck off," Louis says.The audience erupts in "ooo" and Louis begins plotting Harry's murder. If he fucks up things with Zayn, he will personally call Harry's hotel room all night just to piss him off. He's done it before and that's how everyone learned that Harry isn't as charming with only two hours of sleep.Zayn nods at Louis in appreciation and grins in amusement, muttering a quiet thank you as he turns to Cher.Louis ignores what Cher says to Zayn, more focusing on sending dirty looks to Harry and hoping that he would be the one to get Zayn on his team. He'd have the biggest advantage with someone like Zayn. Amazing talent and looks, it would practically guarantee Louis to win this season."I honestly believe that you can win this thing if you choose my team, Zayn," Harry says and Louis sighs dramatically."I already said that, try again," Louis interrupts. Harry waves him off and continues speaking to Zayn."I've had artists like you on my team before and they've done extremely well. You could, too. I'm positive." Harry grins, sitting back in his seat and glancing over at Louis. Louis rolls his eyes and mocks Harry, shaking his head and looking towards Zayn."Don't look at the dimples, they'll break you down," Louis tells Zayn. Zayn laughs along with the audience and Louis smiles in satisfaction. "Choose my team, Zayn. We could win this thing, bro," He says.Harry snorts and crosses his arms. "If you want to  _win_ , come on my team. Two years in a row," He brags. Louis groans and leans back in his chair, waiting as Cher tells Zayn to join her team. This was it now, Zayn would probably choose Harry's team and there would go another season of Louis losing the show."So Zayn, which coach do you choose?" Marvin, the host, asks Zayn. Zayn bites his lip and takes a minute to think before lifting the microphone to speak."It was a tough one, but," Zayn starts and everyone grows with anticipation. "I'm gonna go with Louis."Louis's eyes widen when he hears his name being said, his face breaking out into a grin. He stands up from his chair and walks up to where Zayn is, flipping Harry off again in the process and pulling the performer into a hug. "I don't think I'm allowed to do that, but well, fuck it," Louis says, walking back to his seat and sending Harry a victorious smirk. Harry ignores the look and claps along with everyone else as Zayn waves bye and is escorted backstage."First person on my team and he's probably the best singer in the world," Louis comments before their chairs turn back around. "This is my season.""You still need eleven more, Tommo," Niall reminds him before the lights are dimmed and it's time for another performer to come on.

* * *

 

  
It's the last day of the blind auditions and both Louis and Harry need one more person on their teams. Louis's declared it war.

 

"Styles versus Tomlinson, let's see how this plays out," Niall says before their chairs turn back around. Louis and Harry both smirk, their hands already hovering over their buttons in preparation.Louis was satisfied with his team so far. The eleven singers he had were amazing and he was determined for one of them to win. Zayn definitely, he was one hundred percent sure that Zayn would win. He hasn't heard anyone else that had a voice like Zayn's and he was silently patting himself on the back for getting the lad on his team.Harry's team was pretty good, but Louis wasn't threatened. There was no way he could be with the singers he has on his own team. He was completely confident this season.The intro to Get Lucky begins and Louis raises an eyebrow, sitting up straight and listening.The guy singing is good. Really good, actually and Louis's sure this is the last guy he wants on his team.He quickly glances over to Harry, who nods behind him and gives Louis a grin. Louis knows that look, it means that if Louis turns around, Harry would turn around as well. It was a shitty move that Harry pulls way too often. Asshole.Louis weighs his options as the song gets closer to the ending, then decides to fuck it all and press down on the button. This guy was good enough, he thinks. Maybe as good as Zayn. With the both of them on his team, he could completely dominate the competition.Just as warned, Harry turns as soon as Louis does and the audience gets louder. Louis meant it when he said it was war."This guy's an asshole, you know that right?" Louis says as soon as Marvin is stood on stage next to the performer and its time for them to speak, pointing to Harry. "I'm pretty sure the producers bring us both back just to piss me off.""Really? I thought it was because you were madly in love with me," Harry teases. Louis lets out a sarcastic laugh and shakes his head."You wish, Styles," Louis replies, blowing a kiss. Harry pretends to catch it, holding his hand to his heart and blowing one back to Louis. Louis ignores the gesture purposely, waving it off and earning a hurt gasp from Harry.There were two parts of their friendship. The completely disgusted and annoyed by each other phase, where they continuously bickered and went back and forth with banter. They seemed to go through that more than they did the other. The other phase, which Niall likes to call their "soulmate phase", is them acting completely and totally endeared by other, or at least one of them endeared with the other. It was something they had been doing since they had first met at Harry's first Brit Award Show and continued doing it when they were both cast as coaches on The Voice UK."Offended," Harry mutters."Good, that means I'm doing my job right," Louis says, sending Harry a grin before facing the contestant. "Tell us about yourself, then. I like you.""I'm Liam Payne, I'm twenty-four and I'm from Wolverhampton," Liam answers, smiling. Louis looks him over and purses his lips. He was attractive, Louis had to give him that, too. Given that this is the Voice, Louis probably shouldn't be judging any of the contestants looks, but he's only human. If he happens to notice Liam's strong build or the fact that he could probably be a young David Beckham, then it wasn't his fault."Liam, let me just say, you have a wonderful way with music," Louis begins. Harry clears his throat before the older boy can continue, leaning forward to look at Louis."Why do you always go first?" Harry asks, then looks to Marvin. "I feel like this gives him an unfair advantage."Louis stares at him in disbelief. "So now you've got a problem, Mr.  _I've won two seasons in a row_ ," He mocks. "You're just upset that I've got a chance at winning this season.Harry scoffs. "I am not.""Yes you are.""No.""That's bullshit--""Can you two stop arguing like a married couple so Louis can finish?" Niall interrupts, glancing between the two of them. Harry and Louis stare at each other for a minute, their eyes narrowed and waiting for the other to back down. It ends up being Harry to admit defeat, letting out a sigh and sitting back in his chair, allowing Louis to continue speaking."As I was saying," Louis gives Harry a quick, annoyed look, then glances back at Liam. "You kind of just know when and where to make changes in a song, to make it your own, you know? I really like that and I think you could do a lot with it if you choose my team."Harry pretends to yawn, giving Louis a lazy grin as he waits for his signal to start speaking. Louis sticks his tongue out at Harry and gestures for him to talk. "Right, as Louis said, you've got an instinct with music and you just know what to do and when to do it. It's really hard to find someone that can do that, so I think if you choose to go with me, we can focus a lot on that and you could easily go far, if not win the competition." That was practically the exact same thing Louis said, which further proves that he's better than Harry so Liam should choose him as his coach. He can already imagine the look of shock on Harry's face when Liam chooses to go with Louis instead him. Louis just has a feeling that Liam's gonna choose to go with him, it's the same feeling he had with Zayn and he was right about that.Louis seems almost impressed.  _Almost._  Maybe if he hadn't practically stolen his entire speech. "I'm surprised you didn't say anything about--""And I've won the past two seasons, so there's that, too," Harry adds at last minute, earning an exasperated sigh from Louis"Moving along," Louis mumbles. "Let Liam do what he needs to do." He waves his hand towards Marvin and Liam."The choice is yours, Liam," Marvin tells Liam. "Are you going to go with Coach Louis?" Louis sends Liam a smiles. "Or Coach Harry?" Harry grins as well, giving Liam a small wave.Liam looks between both coaches, furrowing his eyebrows and silently making a decision. Louis really hates this part."I think I'm gonna go with Coach Louis," Liam says. Harry's smile falls and he immediately looks to Louis, who's stood up from his seat and is facing Harry."I'm taking you down this season, Styles," Louis tells him, giving Liam a thumbs up. Harry grimaces, hiding his face in his hands."Liam, mate, chose the wrong team!" Harry exclaims and Liam gives an apologetic smile before being escorted back off stage."Ignore me all you want, H. The fact still remains that I'm gonna win this season," Louis says, smirking. Harry ignores him again and Louis counts this as a success.

* * *

 

  
The best part of doing the show is the interviews. Louis decided the the second year he did it.

 

The first year was a disaster. He could barely manage his time, he lost too much sleep and the interviewers had no fucking idea what the show was even about (apparently they didn't know what  _research_  was). It was the same, boring questions all the time and he hated dealing with them.But then they started letting them do group and pair interviews instead of individual and people  _knew_  the show, giving them better questions that he actually wanted to answer. It got more entertaining and exciting for him. He had finally learned the secret to getting plenty of sleep, and if he didn't he'd just grab something with caffeine and he was good to go for the day. It was an easy system he had picked up and it had yet to fail him."You always look pretty," Louis says to Harry when he enters the younger singer's dressing room, leaning against the door frame. "Were you a Disney princess in another life?"Harry looks behind himself from where he's sat and grins. "I'm so obviously Snow White, Lou. Keep up old man," He replies, putting his phone down on the counter in front of him and focusing his full attention on Louis. "Is it just the two of us for this interview?""Oi, m'only two years older than you," Louis says, narrowing his eyes. "And yeah. Niall and Cher are with Marvin for another one.""It's always us, innit?""There's no one else I'd ever want to interview with, Harold," He says, holding a hand to his heart. Harry laughs, standing up from his chair and grabbing his phone. He slides it in his pocket and walks towards Louis, standing in front of the smaller boy. Alright then, that was one other thing that Harry had over him. His height. "Why are you so tall." It's more of a complaint than a question."Why are you so small?" Harry throws back at him, turning Louis around and leading him out of his dressing room. Louis crosses his arms and walks with Harry, then stops the both of them and steps beside him, putting his arm around Harry's waist and beginning to walk again. Harry rolls his eyes, but drapes his arm over Louis's shoulders. Might as well make an entrance to their interview. Nothing will ever top that time Louis forced Harry to carry him in, though. That had been one of the best headlines of their bromance so far.They've had plenty of great headlines since the show started. There was that time during the second season that Harry had "accidentally" tweeted Louis's number. Then there was Louis's revenge, which had included filling one of Harry's cars with manure (the car is  _completely_  fine). And then there was season one, when people genuinely believed they were feuding with each other. That was wild."I'm normal sized. You're a giant," Louis mutters. Harry chuckles, bumping his hip with Louis's as they walk into the interview room. The interviewer smiles when she sees them, gesturing to the two seats in front of her. Louis recognizes her from past interviews that him and Harry have done. He doesn't like her too much, she gets far too flirty with Harry. Unprofessional, of course."Am not. You're tiny." Harry pouts. Louis rolls his eyes, taking his arm away from Harry's waist and sitting in one of the two seats. Harry sits in the other, smiling at the interviewer,  _Caroline._  Louis crosses his arms, glancing between the two of them before letting out a sigh."Are we going to start the interview or are we continuing the impromptu staring contest?" He asks and Harry looks at him and chuckles. Success.Caroline clears her throat and Louis smirks, then realizes they're about to film and smiles politely. It should be a simple five to ten minute interview, he should be able to fake it throughout the entire thing. Just as long as Harry keeps him distracted and he can get through the questions."So boys," She begins, cueing Louis that the cameras have started rolling. "How's the new season of The Voice treating you?""S'good, actually," Louis says before Harry has a chance to speak. "We wrapped up filming the blind auditions a few weeks ago and they went really well.""Louis threw many fits," Harry adds, playfully shoving Louis's shoulder. The older lad glares at him quickly, then faces Caroline again."Harry flirted with many people." Louis grins victoriously, patting Harry's arm and ignoring Harry's eye roll. "But what's new?" It was a thing with Harry, flirting with the contestants. Honestly, you could barely call it flirting. Just a charming smile and a wink every once in a while, but if anyone was a flirt, it was Niall. But maybe it was because Harry flirted with everyone and Niall only left it for the pretty girls he saw on stage. That was probably it.It wasn't really a secret to anyone that Harry was definitely less than straight. Wasn't really a secret about Louis's sexuality either. Harry simply liked everyone and everyone liked Harry and that was that. No one really questioned it or anything. It had been in the papers for about a week after he had come out, but Harry's fan base was older and more mature so there wasn't really a problem with it.Louis, on the other hand, had more of a struggle when it came to coming out. His music genre had been a bit more mainstream when he started at the early age of eighteen, so it had been best to stay in the closet and ignore the speculation that had come with being a male pop star. Then as he got older and he moved his music into something older that couldn't be considered for anyone under the age of eighteen, he had finally decided that new music meant new beginnings and that ultimately included coming out.He fought with his management and pr team for weeks before he had finally gotten the okay to come out, which Harry had actually played a big part in (his team saw how successful Harry's coming out had worked). It was in the tabloids and media for much longer than Harry's coming out had been, since Louis had a broader fan base and people had been paying attention to him since he was eighteen and he had previously denied all rumors of being gay. It really called a fuss, honestly. But that had been when he was twenty two and he's twenty five going on twenty six now, and fuck, if the world couldn't handle a gay singer at this point, then they couldn't handle anything."I was just being nice," Harry says with a frown. Louis grins."You're definitely nice," Louis agrees. "Like that one time you told Niall-" Harry covers Louis's mouth with his hand before he can continue."We're off topic, I think? Yeah yeah, we're off topic. What was the question?"

* * *

 

  
"Of  _course_  you chose Ed Sheeran," Louis says to Harry as he's walking into the studio to begin filming the Battle Phase. "You guys have got like, this thing, I don't fucking know."

 

Harry looks up from his phone and grins. "Someone's jealous." Louis scoffs, offended. Him and Harry were  _best friends_  and he was a twenty five year old man, he was not jealous of one of Harry's  _friendships._  Harry loved him more than anyone, he's pretty sure."Am not.""Totally are.""Nope.""Explain this tweet, then?" Harry holds out his phone to Louis, who squints at the screen and grimaces.

 

**@Louis_Tomlinson:** _Since when is my best friend allowed to have friends that aren't me ?_

  
Right. He did tweet that when Niall had texted him that Harry chose Ed Sheeran as his guest mentor. Whatever, it's fine. It's not like Harry is his  _only_   best friend. He has Niall and Stan and...plenty of other people that aren't Harry Styles.

 

"Not everything's about you," Louis sneers, crossing his arms. Harry raises and eyebrow and smirks."Louis Tomlinson in 2007 told me otherwise," He says. Louis blinks a couple of time, confused before he realizes what Harry means and points an accusatory finger."Don't you  _dare-"_  He begins, but Harry's already got his music library opened and his pressing play. "Fuck you," He says as one of his first songs begins playing loudly from Harry's phone. Harry laughs obnoxiously, holding his phone out of Louis's reach and singing along. _"It's everything about you, you, you. Everything that you do, do, do. From the way that we touch_   _ba_ _-by, to the way that you kiss on me."_ Louis sighs, smacking Harry's arm and retreating to his dressing room. He pulls his phone out of his pocket and opening the twitter app again. Harry Styles was a dick.

 

**@Louis_Tomlinson:** _Is there a way to get all of my music from before 2013 deleted ?_

  
He put his phone down on the counter in front of him and sits down, leaning back in the chair and propping his feet up on the counter. His phone buzzes with a notification minutes later and he quickly grabs it, narrowing his eyes when he sees it's a reply from Harry on twitter. Fucking menace.

 

**@Harry_Styles:** _**@Louis_Tomlinson** It's everything about you, you, you.... **#classic**_

  
  
He's not even going to bother with a reply this time. Not on twitter, anyways.

 

"Harry Edward!" He yells, hoping he's loud enough for Harry to hear him. Which by the sound of his dressing room door opening, he is. "I dislike you."

"Then why are you jealous?" And god fucking dammit, Louis can hear the smirk in his voice without even looking at him. Louis puts his feet down and turns the chairs around, raising an eyebrow at Harry."I am  _not._ " He shouldn't be doing this. Harry is a  _child_ , that's what he is. He has the mentality of a six year old. Louis is best friends with a  _six year old_. He shouldn't be giving into his childish arguments and accusations. He is an  _adult._  "Go away before I make Niall my new favorite."  _Adult._ Harry shrugs. "Niall's everyone's favorite. At least it's what the polls say." Can't really argue with that one."Yeah, but my opinion matters more than some damn poll." He hesitates before adding, "Where was I on that poll?" He asks. Harry snorts, shaking his head and walking out of the room.

* * *

 

  
Louis stands in front of his team, his hands clasped together and staring at them through his aviators. "Right, so, as you all know, hopefully, we're moving into the battle rounds." He takes his sunglasses off and holds them in his hand. "So for this, you will be paired with another member to compete against each other." He hates having to explain things. If you're on the show, you should know how the show works, honestly.

 

"Now, I've brought in a friend from the industry." This is so  _scripted._  "To help me mentor each of you." He turns around and calls, "Perrie, love!"A small, blonde girl comes out and stands beside Louis, smiling and waving to his team members. "Hello!" She greets."Now, as you may know, Perrie is in a group called Little Mix and has been making music since 2011," He explains. "She's got a lot of experience with this sort of thing and will be great help when it comes to your performances."  _Scripted._  "Now for pairs," He says, grabbing the clipboard Perrie's brought and reading off the list."Liam Payne and Zayn Malik," He finishes moments later, doing a quick double take at the clipboard before frowning. No no no, Liam couldn't be against Zayn. They were both his best singers, he didn't want to have to get rid of one. He sighs, shaking his head and smiling back up at his team. "Each pair will be given a song and will begin practicing with either Perrie or myself."He looks over the clip board one last time and mentally sighs in relief when he sees that Zayn is meant to practice with him and Perrie first. All of his confidence was going straight towards Zayn this season. Liam, as well, but seeing as it was either him or Zayn, well, he was going to have to make a decision at some point. Not that none of the other performers on his team weren't good, but Zayn  was and Liam were the best and he was going to take advantage of it.

* * *

 

  
"Zayn, mate, so glad I get to work with you," Louis says as he walks into the practice room with Perrie. Zayn's sat at one of the tables on his phone, looking up when he hears Louis and smiling. "How have you been?"

 

"Good, just a bit nervous," Zayn says. "S'like, a big opportunity and Liam's really amazing.""And so are you, which is why you're both here," Louis tells him and Zayn nods. "So, you and Liam have got very similar voices, but there's something about yours and his that makes them special in themselves, you know what I mean?" Zayn's voice moved so easily to the music, where Liam knew how to manipulate it and make it his own. They were both outstanding singers, which would probably be the hardest part of the battle rounds.Him and Perrie continue speaking to Zayn abut the song and the performance in itself for the next thirty minutes, before Zayn's time is through. "So, tomorrow we'll go over the song with, sound alright?" Perrie asks."Sounds good, yeah," Zayn mumbles and Louis takes note that he doesn't speak much. He also decides that he'll get Zayn to talk to him by the end of the competition.

* * *

 

  
There's a big difference between Liam and Zayn, and it's confidence. Zayn was a bit for chilled and laid back, but Liam knew what he was up against and was more determined than anything. Nothing was wrong with either, honestly. Both personalities would help them throughout the competition if they played their cards right.

 

The thing was, Liam and Zayn were both really amazing and Louis was going to have a crisis when it came to having to decide who it was he was going to put through. The other shitty thing was that, whoever he sent home, the other coaches had a chance to steal them to their team. Which mostly means, Harry had a chance to take Zayn or Liam from him. It wasn't fair at all."Liam, can you do that verse again?" Louis asks, looking over at Perrie. She nods, going up to Liam and speaking to him about what needed to be fixed and what he could change to make it better. They were halfway through the Battle Phase week and both boys were doing amazingly well. It wasn't fair.Zayn had just been in the room half an hour before Liam, and hearing them back to back helped Louis realize exactly what he was giving up since they were performing against one another. And then what he's seen of the two, they've both become friends through this as well, and Louis felt even worse about having to give one of them up. It didn't help that Harry would have the chance to have one of them."That was great," Louis says when Liam's rehearsal is over. "We're practicing the actual performance for the rest of the week, so you and Zayn can get used to performing together."Liam nods, putting the microphone on the stand and sitting down in one of the seats. Louis waits until the cameras are off to sit beside him and place a hand on his shoulder. "Your rehearsals have been going extremely well," Louis starts. "I'm really glad you're on my team. Having you and Zayn sing against each other is the worst idea my computer has come up with."Liam laughs softly at that. "Zayn's brilliant."Louis raises an eyebrow at the softness in Liam's voice when he says that, but decides to not say anything about it."So are you, though," Louis says, then stands up. "It was lovely chatting with you, Liam. The next artist is coming in soon, so unfortunately we have to wait until next time."Liam nods, standing up and shoving his hands in his pockets. He turns around to leave, but looks back at Louis and smiles. "You were my first choice coach, by the way.""Hm?""Like, everyone has that judge they're really hoping they get picked by. Mine was you. I liked the way you worked with your team the last few seasons, even if you didn't win them."Louis nods slowly, giving Liam an appreciative smiles. "Thank you, for that. I'm glad you chose me. And between me and you," He pretends to look around, before glancing back at Liam and stage whispering, "Harry's full of himself."Liam chuckles and nods, waving bye to Louis before exiting the practice room.

* * *

 

  
"Truth of the matter is, you're going to lose," Louis says to Harry while they're at his flat for their usual night filled with greasy take away and Fifa. It was a routine that the two followed religiously when they were both in London for the show, or happened to be near each other for various award shows.

 

Harry shakes his head and shoves Louis's shoulder, causing the older last to lose his fingering on his controller.

"Oi! Step off it, Styles," Louis scolds, re-positioning his head and kicking Harry's ankle with his foot. "That's foul play. Won't stand for that in my own home.""Oh, this home or the one in France?" Harry teases and Louis scoffs."Fuck off, you have like, ten cars and a house in Los Angeles. Bloody young artists," He mumbles. Harry rolls his eyes and looks at the television screen again, pressing down on his controller before scoring a goal against Louis. Louis groans, sitting back in the sofa and tossing his controller to the side. He grabs another slice of pizza from the box, quickly pausing the game, standing up and walking towards the kitchen."Are you calling yourself old?" Harry asks. Louis doesn't need to be facing him to know that he's got the stupid smile on his face. It's the same one he has every time he says something stupid to Louis and thinks he's funny. Louis has news for him, he's not.Louis scoffs, quickly grabbing two waters from the fridge and walking back out into the main room. He hands a bottle to Harry and sits back down, taking a bite of his pizza and stretching his legs across Harry's lap. Harry glances down and rolls his eyes, but leaves Louis's legs there and grabs himself a slice of pizza."No, you're just a child. You're like, six," Louis says, pointing a finger at Harry. "A six year old that doesn't know how to save his money. Child.""So you are calling yourself old. Glad you've finally accepted it." Harry smirks, biting his pizza and earning a glare from Louis. "You started it," He says with his mouth full and Louis grimaces."Bloody  _children,_ " Louis complains. "You're disgusting.""You love me," Harry replies, blowing Louis a kiss and grinning lazily. Louis scrunches his nose in disgust, eating the rest of his pizza and wiping his hands on his joggers. "Who's disgusting now?"Louis sticks his tongue out at Harry and grabs his controller. Harry grabs his phone from the coffee table and quickly types something before setting it back down. "What was that?" Louis asks, nodding towards Harry's phone and raising an eyebrow. Harry grins, taking another bite of his pizza and shrugging. Louis grabs his own phone, quickly going to the twitter app and checking Harry's profile.

 

 

  
**@Harry_Styles:** _**@Louis_Tomlinson** is mean when he's losing Fifa. **#child**_  


  
"You're an asshole," Louis mutters, putting his phone back and nudging Harry's thighs. "I'll retaliate when I beat your ass in this game."

 

Harry shakes his head and finishes his pizza, dramatically grabbing one of the napkins and wiping his hands. Louis reaches over and grabs a napkin, crumpling it into a ball and throwing it at the side of Harry's head. He hits him on the ear and Harry squeaks, it having been unexpected. He flips Louis off before taking his controller and motioning for Louis to un-pause the game.

After an intense game filled with plenty of trash talk (mostly from Louis) and swearing (also from Louis), Louis ends up winning the game, keeping his promise and replying to Harry's tweet later that night after Harry leaves.

**@Louis_Tomlinson:** _**@Harry_Styles** I reign as the Fifa champion. **#gross**_

* * *

 

  
Louis thinks that this entire thing is rigged.

 

He's watched Liam and Zayn rehearse for the second time and it's only gotten better than the initial rehearsal. Their voices work so well together and blend so easily, they could easily be a duo and win this thing together, but unfortunately, this was the Voice and not X-Factor and he couldn't just put the two together. He'd have to pick one or the other and it was complete and utter bullshit. His computer really screwed him over with that randomizer thing. Next time he'll stop being lazy and just do it out himself.

"So I've figured," Harry says from behind Louis, breaking him out of the trance Liam and Zayn's performance has him in. They've just got such great chemistry while they're on stage, it's not fair to anyone. "Since one of them has to go, it'll be extremely selfless of me to take one of them on so that they both still have a chance after Battle Phases. You can thank me later.""Why are you here?" Louis asks. "Go like, give your team a pep talk or something. Closed practice, Styles. You'll get your turn.""My practice day was yesterday, my team is all set. Wanna watch yours for a bit," Harry says, stepping beside Louis and crossing his arms. Louis scoffs and rolls his eyes, typing something into his tablet and glancing over at Harry."This is cheating, you know," Louis mutters. Harry stares at him, waiting for an explanation. "You could totally watch this and use it against me.""Oh come off it, I've watched your team's rehearsals before." Harry grins. Louis shoves Harry's shoulder playfully, looking up when the music cuts off and walking up towards the stage. "Go get 'em, Lou," Harry says sarcastically, clapping obnoxiously. Louis flips him off, looking up at Zayn and Liam and smiling."That was amazing, guys," Louis says, glancing down at his tablet quickly before looking back up. "I think you're ready for next Monday. The performance is down, you've got everything where it needs to be. You're set." Zayn and Liam both grin at Louis, giving each other a high five and walking off stage. Louis doesn't get how you can be so friendly with someone that could ruin your chances of going farther into the competition, but apparently Zayn and Liam don't have the same mentality. He's pretty sure they're the first two that have made physical contact with each other off stage.Louis finishes typing things into his tablet, turning around and sighing when he sees Harry is still there, sitting in one of the chairs. "They're quite friendly, don't you think?" Harry asks. Louis nods, coming down from the stage walking to the chair Harry was sat in (which happened to be Louis's). "Is it just me, or is your chair more comfortable than mine?""Because I'm cooler, obviously," Louis mutters. Harry makes a strange noise, putting his feet up where the button is and grinning lazily. Louis hates that grin, it makes Harry look like a complete asshole. Well, he is one, but the point is, that grin is stupid. Just like Harry. "You're an idiot.""Thanks, Lou," Harry says. Louis blinks a couple times, then shakes his head and begins walking backstage. His team was finished rehearsing for the day and Niall's would be in any minute now. "Hey, what are you doing for lunch?" And of course Harry followed him. He's like a lost puppy."Nothing, really. Was gonna go home and attempt to cook something that didn't have to be microwaved or toasted," Louis jokes. Harry chuckles, swinging an arm over Louis's shoulders when he catches up to him."How about," Harry starts. "I go with you and I can cook us something edible.""How domestic," Louis teasing, poking Harry's nose."Only the best for you," Harry replies with a soft smile."You two are disgusting." They both look ahead of each other to see Niall walking towards them with his arms crossed. "Can you fuck already and get it over with," He says a bit too loudly and Harry laughs while Louis looks absolutely mortified."Children, the both of you," Louis mutters, crossing his arms over his chest."Is that your only insult?" Harry question and Louis just shakes his head, pushing Harry's arm of of him and speeding up. Niall laughs at the two of them, waving a quick bye and walking to where he was meant to meet with his team. "I love Niall."Louis snorts, looking behind him and raising an eyebrow at Harry. "Ahem?" He stops walking, waiting for Harry to get the hint. Harry can't just declare his love for another person in front of Louis, that wasn't how their friendship worked. Harry was supposed to love Louis most, even when it came to Niall."Oh, but I definitely love you more," Harry quickly adds, quickening his speed so that he's walking at the same pace as Louis. "You'll always own my heart, Lou.""I better. Don't want one of those unrequited love stories or whatever," Louis says, playfully shoving Harry's shoulder. Harry grins, placing a hand on Louis's shoulder and pulling his phone out of his pocket. Louis keeps his eyes on Harry while the younger lad is focused on his phone.There had been rumors about the two of them since the day they met, he's pretty sure. It was at one of the after parties for the Brits in 2008. It was the first time Harry had been nominated and he had brought home the award for British Single of the Year, which he had been nominated against Louis for. Louis didn't really care that he had lost to Harry, he was cute and charming and his voice was  _amazing_ , so alright, he'd let it slide this time. But that hadn't meant that he wouldn't go to one of the after parties and get wasted, so that's exactly what he did. While running into a slightly less than sober Harry Styles.The first thing he had thought to say was " _you stole my award,"_  and he's certain that Harry apologized over twenty times before Louis told him to relax and that it was just a joke. He had gone home with the Global Success Award and British Video, so he really didn't need to complain about the  _one_  award he had lost to Harry.They had stayed attached at the hip after that, Harry sneaking drinks and Louis making fun of the older artists that had came to the after party. It had been the start to a famous friendship and the start to numerous rumors over the years that the two of them were in a relationship.It might've had to do with the fact that neither of them had been in a relationship that hadn't been deemed as pr by all of their fans and even some of the media. It could also be that their "personal space" bubble just sort of disappeared when it came to the two of them. It was probably both, honestly. The both of them coming out so soon after the other hadn't helped the rumors, but oh well. Can't really do anything about that. If people really think they're dating, then let them. Harry should be honored that he's being linked to Louis.And if there was maybe a tiny part of Louis that wished the rumors were true, then well, that was for another day.

* * *

 

  
The Battle Rounds goes by quickly for Louis, having almost eliminated one person from every team. He sighs as the lights dim again and it's time for the last two, Zayn and Liam, to come on and perform. This was it, he was going to have to get rid of one half of the greatest duo on his team. They should've know each other before the competition and auditioned together. It would've made Louis's life a whole lot easier.

 

The lights come back on and both boys come on stage once the music starts. Liam immediately starts off the first verse. " _Never had much faith in love or miracles. Never wanna put my heart on the line."_

" _But swimming in your water is something spiritual. I'm born again every time you spend the night._ " Zayn picks up where Liam cut off, stepping forward on stage. Louis watches the both of them closely, wondering how the hell he would make the decision when they've already started the song off so strongly." _'Cause your sex takes me to paradise. Yeah, your sex takes me to paradise_ ," Liam sings and taking a couple of steps closer to Zayn. Louis raises an eyebrow, because he's sure that wasn't practiced in rehearsals. But he lets it slide, it was probably an accident or "in the moment" thing. He gets it." _And it shows, yeah, yeah, yeah,_ ""' _Cause you make me feel like I've been locked out of heaven. For too long, for too long. Yeah, you make me feel like I've been locked out of heaven. For too long, for too long,_ " Zayn and Liam duet on the chorus and Louis really realizes how well their voices blend together at that moment. Wasn't there a keep both option? Can't he just handcuff them together and refuse to take one without the other? That'd be the obvious option. Liam and Zayn were practically made to sing with each other, it wouldn't make sense to have one without the other.Zayn moves to the other side of the stage, turning his back to Liam and beginning his part of the hook. " _Can I just stay here? Spend the rest of my days here?_ "" _Can't I just stay here? Spend the rest of my days here? 'Cause you make me feel like, I've been locked out of heaven. For too long, for too long,_ " Zayn hits the high notes that Louis had told him to add in and Louis silently pats him self on the back as the audience cheers. Except he realizes this makes his decision even harder and he hates himself for it. Zayn could hit the high notes so easily, like it just came to him. Louis had eight years of vocal lessons before he made it and he still couldn't quite perfect the high notes that Zayn could hit himself. It was like a gift, some people had it, some people didn't. Zayn did and Louis was really envious of it." _Yeah, you make me feel like I've been locked out of heaven. For too long, for too long,_ " Liam puts the spin on it like Louis and Perrie had suggested and Louis's dying a little on the inside. Liam's little twists and changes on songs flowed so smoothly and made the songs sound like they belonged to him. He knew when and where to do it and not many people could do that right on the spot. He loved that Liam never played it safe.The song ends and the singers give each other a thumbs up on stage. How can they just stand there and be  _friends_  when they know that the other holds their career in their hands? Louis doesn't understand. Is it that whole "keep your friends close and your enemies closer"? Was that what they were doing? Either way, it breaks Louis's heart as they step off the stage and in front of the coaches. He had to decide now.Marvin goes through the same speech that he makes with every performance, except with variations each time. Luckily, Louis has more time to speak as they go down to Harry, allowing him to give his opinion on the performance."Well first of all, I shouldn't say anything nice because you're both traitors," Harry starts off, his tone playful. Everyone laughs and Harry grins, then looks back to Liam and Zayn. "No but honestly, that was a phenomenal performance. You both have kind of a unique part to your voices that you and Louis definitely took advantage of. Zayn, that high note was amazing and I still have goosebumps from it." Zayn smiles at Harry's compliment, giving a small nod and allowing him to continue. "Liam, the riffs and how confident you were on them, it was different and great and that's definitely one of your strongest qualities. If it were me, I'd probably go with Liam. But you were both amazing, really."Louis takes Harry's words into consideration, thinking over the performance again and deciding he agrees with what Harry had said. He purses his lips and nods at Harry, then leans over and looks at Niall, waiting for him to begin speaking."Can always count on Tommo's team to give a powerful performance," Niall exclaims, smiling widely. Louis grins, almost forgetting about the decision he's going to have to make when it gets down to him. "Where do I even begin, um, Liam! You, mate, have got a fantastic voice, Jesus. You're voice didn't even crack when changing things around. Wish I could have turned my chair during your audition. And then Zayn, those high notes and riffs you've got going, I've never seen someone execute them so easily and perfectly. You're both such amazing singers, but I think I would go with Zayn."So, one point for Zayn and one for Liam. The other coaches were just trying to make this entire thing even more difficult for him, weren't they? They saw how he was struggling with this and decided they wanted to put even more pressure on him.He listens as Cher gives her reasoning and then says that she doesn't know who she'd choose. Thanks Cher.Then, all eyes are on Louis and he finally hears the dreaded words he was hoping would just be forgotten. Afraid not."Zayn, Liam," Louis starts, sighing. "You're both amazingly talented singers. If I had it my way, I'd keep you both, honestly. You two have such chemistry on that stage and it's really rare for competitors to have that. But unfortunately, I've got to make this stupid decision and unwillingly hand over one of my two greatest singers to probably that asshole at the end." He leans forward and points to Harry, who just smiles innocently and waves to Zayn and Liam. "I just want to keep you both.""Louis, who is the winner of this battle?" Marvin asks and Louis groans. He looks between Zayn and Liam a few times, trying to pick the pros and cons of both of them. That was hard to do when the cons list was at zero for both and the pros list was too high for Louis to count."So, the winner of this battle is," He goes silent again, rethinking everything he thought during the performance and making sure his decision is the right one. "The winner is..." He hesitates, letting out a deep breath. "I think I'm just gonna make a gut decision, there's not really a right or wrong, you know?" He says, tapping his fingers on the front of the chair and looking anywhere that wasn't at Zayn and Liam. "The winner of this battle is...Zayn." He shuts his eyes as he says it, not wanting to see Liam's face when he learns he's not going to be on Louis's team anymore. Louis feels shitty.He finally opens his eyes, seeing Zayn embracing Liam in a hug and Liam telling him that he deserved it. Louis stands up, getting off of his chair, going up to Liam and pulling the younger lad into a hug. Maybe he can drag Zayn and Liam off the stage and start his own reality show with the two of them. Harry would join them, maybe. Whatever Louis did, he did and vice versa. It was a genius idea."Tommo! Get back in your seat!" Niall yells from his chair and Louis lets go of Liam, letting out a sigh. He makes his way back down to his chair and sits down, sticking his tongue out a Niall and leaning back. As soon as he's relaxed in his chair, Harry's hand has leaned forward and it pressing down on his button, signaling that he wants to steal Liam for his team. Fucking Harry.Niall and Cher leave their buttons alone, Niall looking between Louis and Harry with an amused expression. Harry's looking down at Louis with a smirk on his face and Louis rolls his eyes, quickly flipping him off and staring up at Liam. This was it then, Liam was going behind enemy lines. No worse than that. He was  _working_  with the enemy, now. This one hundred percent meant war.

* * *

 

  
"Not being able to sleep with contestants is shit," Niall complains, sitting down next to Louis and grabbing one of the Chinese take away containers. "You know that one chick on mine? Her name is Brittany and--"

"I don't want to know about how much you want to bang one of your team members, Niall," Louis says, scrolling through his twitter feed. "Harry! Niall's dick is talking for him again, can you come back in here?" He yells. Niall laughs and leans back into Harry's sofa, stuffing a spoonful of fried rice in his mouth.Harry comes back into the room a couple minutes later, three drinks in his hand. He gives one to Niall and Louis, sitting in his spot next to Louis and leans his head on the older lad's shoulder. Niall makes a gagging sound, opening his beer and taking a drink. "You two are fucking gross.""We're adorable," Louis responds, reaching out and smacking Niall's arm. "Cutest best friends in the world.""More like, 'cutest friends that are probably fucking behind everyone's back'. Sounds about right," Niall mumbles.Louis opens his mouth to say something, but Harry speaks before he has the chance. "You're just upset that you're not getting laid." Louis chokes on his water, kicking Harry's leg and glaring at him. Harry and Niall both laugh loudly, Harry pressing a kiss to Louis's cheek and grinning. "Sorry, Lou.""You're both ridiculous," Louis says, playing with Harry's hair and looking up quickly at the television screen. They had let Niall join in on their night together, letting him pick the movie, because they never really pay attention to it anyways. It was the only way Niall would shut up about being a "third wheel" and needing to get laid. Usually Louis would just shove popcorn in his mouth and tell him to shut up and watch the movie. Then Harry would scold his parenting methods and Niall would mumble something about how married they were without being married."You two are the ones that are completely oblivious to the sexual tension between you," Niall says. Louis hits his arm again, putting an arm around Harry's shoulder and going back to playing with his hair. Harry's hair had to be at the top of the "things I love about Harry" list he had in his head. He was always playing with it, tugging off Harry's beanies and hats in favor of it. Harry always pretended to be annoyed with it, but when they were laying together and cuddling, he usually curled into Louis's side when he played with it. "Fucking boyfriends, the two of you.""Harry wishes I was his boyfriend," Louis says, when it reality, it was the other way around.Harry stares up at him and grins. "Of course. My heart only belongs to you. I can never love another after being rejected by the amazingly handsome, Louis William Tomlinson," He exaggerates, clutching a hand to his heart. Louis smirks."Amazingly handsome, I might have to keep that." Louis winks. "You should write a song about me. That should be the title.""It's genius," Harry agrees. "A number one, I'm sure.""Fucking idiots," Niall says, shaking his head and refocusing on the movie.

* * *

 

  
"I've decided that our teams aren't allowed to interact with each other," Louis tells Harry when he walks into the other's dressing room. Harry glances up from his phone, turning around and raising an eyebrow. "You stole Liam from me, so it only makes sense."

 

"But Zayn and Liam are like, best mates now."

" _Exactly_. They're close and it'd get in the way of their performing. Think, Haz," Louis says, leaning against the door frame and crossing his arms. "What if Zayn starts talking about the song he's doing and Liam copies it? Or vice versa? I think it'd just be better for them to not interact with each other."Harry sighs. "We've had contestants that were friends before. What's so different now? Because you have a chance at winning?""Well, yes," Louis stars and Harry scoffs, rolling his eyes. Louis narrows his eyes for a minute, then continues speaking. "I'd rather just have Zayn focus on the competition and not making friends.""You do have other team members, Louis."Right, he does. About five other members that aren't Zayn. It's not that they aren't good...Zayn's just better than all of them combined. And now that Liam is on Harry's team, he needs to focus even more on Zayn. Zayn has such a big opportunity for himself, he can go really far in this competition even if he's not the winner. Even if Zayn doesn't win, Louis's already decided that he would sign him regardless. Zayn had a lot of talent and it'd be a shame to see it go to waste."I know I do and they're absolutely  _amazing_ , but you can't tell me that if you had to bet on one member on your team, it wouldn't be Liam?" Louis asks. Harry purses his lips, staying silent and proving Louis's point. "Exactly! They can't all win, H.""Yeah yeah, fine. No interaction from our teams," Harry says, waving Louis off. "I'm still going to win.""Fuck that," Louis says, turning around and walking out the room. Harry stares at him until he's out of site, smiling to himself and shaking his head.

* * *

 

  
Louis stands in front of his team, biting his lip and scanning over all of them. He can't really remember all of their names, but he remembers the ones that really stood out to him at auditions and that's what really matters right now. He looks down at his tablet, reading the names of the ones he forgot and looking back up to put faces to names. By the end of the Knock Out Stage, he'd only have to memorize three and that brings him some sort of relief. He tried to be good with names, but he really wasn't.

 

"So," He finally says, confident that he remembers the names of everyone in the room. "Harry and I have gone over it and we thought it'd be better if our two teams didn't interact until the end of the season." He glances to Zayn quickly, who's eyebrows are furrowed and lips are pursed. Louis sighs, continuing with his mini-speech. "Seeing as I've unofficially declared war on Harold, it only makes sense." He quickly wonders if Harry's making this same speech to his own team right now. Hopefully."This is because of Liam, isn't it?" Zayn asks. Louis silently tells himself to applaud Zayn for speaking without being spoken to first later."Kind of," He stops himself, then corrects. "Well, yes. But regardless, it'll be better this way.""What about the other two teams?" Someone in the back says, he thinks it's a girl named Eva or something like that.He shrugs. "Yeah, you can talk to them. M'not to threatened by them." And he really isn't. Well, no, Niall and Cher's teams are very talented, but they're not the ones that he was so worried about losing to. He'd rather one of them win if not him. He just really didn't want Harry to win for the third time in a row, that was it. It was completely logical, right? And yeah, he did  _want_  to win, but if he lost, he'd rather not lose to Harry again."With that being said," He says. "Niall usually throws a party after the Knockout Stage. S'like, celebrating the start of Live Shows, even if they're a couple of months away. If you talk to them there, then that's fine. But once Live Shows begin, they're off limits, alright?" Everyone nods and Louis smiles. "M'not trying to be a dick or anything, but like, I get really competitive when it comes to Harry.""We've noticed," Zayn says. Louis gives him a pointed look, to with Zayn just grins. He likes him, Zayn is great friendship material for when this show is over. He just needs to make him feel more comfortable around him, like he is now. Louis's getting somewhere with him, he can tell. By the end of the competition, him and Zayn will be best friends, well, besides Harry.

* * *

 

  
He would like to say he's modest and not the type to brag, but he's neither of those things and brags to Harry as soon as he walks into the studio for the filming of the Knockout Stage.

"Zayn's been doing great during rehearsals. The song he's picked is really amazing," He says, taking a sip of his frappé and smirking. Harry's eyes quickly flicker to him, giving an eye roll and waving off the older lad."Liam is, too. My team didn't really like the no interaction thing, by the way.""Neither did mine, but no one questioned it. S'only for what? Three weeks?" Louis asks. Three weeks of Live Shows, which hopefully means three weeks of watching Zayn perform on stage. And then maybe smiling victoriously when Zayn wins, meaning Louis wins and Harry loses his two year winning streak to Louis. A perfect world that would be.Harry nods, swinging an arm over Louis's shoulders. Louis leans into him naturally, putting an arm around Harry's waist. "You're going to Niall's party, right?" Louis scoffs at the question, because  _of course_  he was going to Niall's party. He's gone the past four years and there's no way he was going to miss this one. It would ruin his party reputation that he's had built since he turned eighteen. And then what would the media write about him? That he was responsible and stayed in while everyone else was out partying? Ha! Like that would ever happen."Do you expect any less, Harold?" Louis asks, raising an eyebrow. Harry shrugs and smiles, grabbing Louis's drink from his hand and taking a sip out of it. Louis feigns annoyance, but lets Harry drinks it. It had caffeine in it anyways, even though he  _clearly_  told them decaf. "If you're going, I'm going. If you're not going, I'm still going. I am the life of the party.""Gotta abuse it while you still can, old man," Harry teases. Louis narrows his eyes, taking his drink back before Harry can go to take another sip from it. Harry pouts, but Louis forces himself to look away, standing straight and breaking out of Harry's embrace. "Not nice.""Get your own," Louis says simple, walking off towards his dressing room. As much as he enjoyed wearing tanks tops, joggers and a beanie all day every day, that was frowned upon by their styling team and well, everyone that watched the show. "Make sure you stress about decaf, though."Harry follows after him, having already gotten dressed as soon as he entered the studio. Louis silently curses that they have him dressed in that stupid black, sheer shirt and that Harry doesn't seem to understand the  _wonders_  of buttons. How is Louis supposed to focus on anything when Harry Styles is walking around in the tightest jeans imaginable and only like, three buttons on his shirt done. Really? Is the styling team  _trying_  to sabotage him?"I like the caffeine though, so I'll  _happily_  take that off your hands." Harry grins, taking the drink from Louis once again and entering his dressing room with him. He sits down at one of the chairs as Louis gets preoccupied by one of the stylists in the room. Louis gets handed the outfit he's meant to wear for filming that day and the stylists leave so he can get dressed.He stares at Harry, waiting for the younger boy to leave, but Harry stays, drinking Louis's frappé and playing around on his phone. "Was I going to get the memo that our dressing rooms are now one or?" He asks, sarcasm oozing from his tone. Harry looks up at him and smiles before looking back down at his phone. Louis sighs, taking off his beanie and turning around so he was facing away from Harry. He strips of his tank top, pulling on the baseball tee. At least the outfit isn't  _completely_  uncomfortable.He quickly trades in his joggers for skinny jeans, tossing those off to the side and turning around to face Harry. Harry's already looking up at him, standing from his chair and smirking."Thanks for the show, Tomlinson," He says with a wink, hurrying out of Louis's dressing room before the other could say anything. Louis stares at the door for a few seconds after Harry leaves, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. What the fuck was that?

* * *

 

  
The Knockout stage has been nothing but tense for Louis. Niall and Cher have already got their remaining three, so now it's down to his and Harry's teams and he's not looking forward to having to watch Liam on stage when Louis wasn't the one that'd get to be proud of having someone so talented on his team.

 

Harry's pairs go by fast until it's down to Liam and another girl on his team. Louis sighs when Liam gets on stage, then remembers that he's being filmed and smiles. The lights dim slightly as Liam steps on stage and the music begins playing.

 _"It's been about a year now. Ain't seen or heard from you. I've been missing you crazy. How do you, how do you sleep?"_  Louis feels like he's been smacked with 2008 as soon as he recognizes the song Liam's singing.  _"I found the letter you wrote me, it still smells just like you. Damn those sweet memories. How do you, how do you sleep? How do you sleep?"_ As much as he doesn't mean to, he finds himself enjoying Liam's performance anyways, nodding along to the music and mouthing to the words that he can remember. This wasn't right, Liam was a traitor now. He wasn't supposed to be cheering on Harry's team, no. He was supposed to hope that they lost so that he won. It was a competition for the reason. _"Tried my best at movin' on, have yet to find a girl like you. See things now I didn't before, now wishin' I had more time with you. How do you stay awake, knowin' all I do is think of you. All the things we thought about, then, never will happen again. If I could just see you."_ _"If I had my way I'd come and get you girl, in your favourite car with the missing top. Around my way where we used to park, and did all those things to steal your heart._   _t's been about a year now. Ain't seen or heard from you. I've been missing you crazy. How do you, how do you sleep?_   _I found the letter you wrote me, it still smells just like you. Damn those sweet memories. How do you, how do you sleep? How do you sleep?_ _"_ He looks to Harry when Liam's performance is over, a smirk on the other lad's face. He's starting to think that's Harry permanent facial expression for the rest of the season. Whatever. Fuck him. Louis still had Zayn and when everyone heard his performance, he'd instantly become the fan favorite. He was sure of it, how could Zayn  _not_   be the fan favorite? He could sing well, he was attractive and after a bit, he was actually really funny. Zayn was a triple threat, he could easily beat Liam. Harry doesn't know what he's up against.Louis gives a quickly, bullshit speech on how he loved the performance (okay, he genuinely  _did_  believe that Liam's performance was great), give Liam a quick smile before turning and listening to what the other judges had to say. It doesn't matter. Liam compared to the other girl that had sang was a no-brainer. Liam was obviously the better choice and Harry knew that, too.He claps along with everyone else when Harry announces he's keeping Liam, sitting up straight when he remembers it's time for his team to start performing.The choices he makes with the first two pairs are a bit more difficult than he thought the decision would've been, but he makes them and has two girls on his team so far. One was the girl that had spoken up yesterday, he recognizes and the other was one that usually kept to herself. They were both fantastic singers ad he was proud of both their performances. He could see one of them winning as well, if Zayn weren't going to be right along side them on his team.The lights dim down right before Zayn's performance and Louis smiles to himself, quickly glancing in Harry's direction and then back towards the stage when he hears the music begin and sees Zayn on stage. _"Get out your guns, battle's begun, are you a saint, or a sinner? If love's a fight, then I shall die, with my heart on a trigger,"_  Zayn sings. Louis grins, leaning forward in his chair.  _"They say before you start a war, you better know what you're fighting for. Well baby, you are all that I adore, if love is what you need, a soldier I will be."_ _"I'm an angel with a shotgun, fighting 'til the war's won, I don't care if heaven won't take me back. I'll throw away my faith, babe, just to keep you safe. Don't you know you're everything I have? ..and I, wanna live, not just survive, tonight._ " Louis's never heard the song before Zayn had told him he had chosen it, but he's glad he did. It showed off all of Zayn's vocal abilities, from high notes to riffs and even how low he could sing. It was the perfect song for him. " _I'm an angel with a shotgun..fighting 'til the war's won..I don't care if heaven won't take me back.._ " _"I'm an angel with a shotgun, fighting til' the war's won, I don't care if heaven won't take me back. I'll throw away my faith, babe, just to keep you safe. Don't you know you're everything I have? ..and I, want to live, not just survive, tonight. ..and I'm-_ " Louis cheers with everyone else as Zayn perfectly hits that high note, sending a quick smirk to Harry and staring back up at Zayn. " _-gonna hide, hide, hide my wings tonight. They say before you start a war, you better know what you're fighting for. Well baby, you are all that I adore, if love is what you need, a soldier I will be._ "Louis sits back and looks smug while Harry's explaining how he felt about Zayn performance. Actually, he's smug while  _all_   of the judges are explaining their feelings on Zayn's performance. Its only when it's his turn to comment on the performance and make his decision that he sits up straight."Zayn!" He exclaims. "Not  _only_  did you choose a song that really showed off your voice, but you absolutely  _killed_  it up there. You owned that stage, mate. If I had to pick something that wasn't good, um...I honestly don't know. It was really great, Zayn. I'm proud."Zayn smiles and nods, mumbling thank you into the microphone. Marvin brings the guy that sang before Zayn and stands in between the two."So Louis, who is the winner of the Knockout Stage?" Marvin asks. This is an easy decision, no doubt. It's Zayn, of course it's Zayn. The other guy was good, but he got pitchy in some spots and couldn't control his breathing well.Louis pretends to hesitate for a minute, then lets out a sigh. Acting. "The winner of this challenge is...Zayn." As if it'd be anyone else. Zayn and the other guy hug quickly before they're both ushered off the stage. Louis looks over at Harry again, this time making eye contact with him and grinning victoriously. Harry sticks his tongue out at him, shaking his head and sitting back in his seat.

* * *

 

  
Niall's party is fucking  _amazing._  It's like that every year, but Louis's pretty sure that there's even more people than there usually are. Niall's even invited the teams members that hadn't gotten through after the battle rounds. There's so many other celebrities, even the ones that Louis can't recognizes. Singers, actors, even just back up dancers and singers were invited. It's loud, he's drunk and Louis  _loves_  it.

 

"Glad I've finally found you, oldie." Louis turns around, stumbling a bit from doing it to fast. He grins when he sees Harry, downing the rest of whatever the fuck was in his cup and pulling Harry into a hug. Harry chuckles, hugging Louis back and pulling away after a few seconds."Hazzaaaaaaa," Louis drawls, wrapping an arm around Harry's waist. "You're just young, s'all. You're a baby. Baby Hazza." Harry shakes his head. "Remind me to ask Anne for your baby pictures. I can post them online and humiliate you.""Definitely won't be reminding you, then," Harry says. Louis pouts, taking his arm away and grabbing Harry's hand. He pulls him to where the drinks are (which is fucking everywhere at this point in the party) and pushes him towards them."Get drunk with me," Louis demands. Harry laughs, but gets himself a drink. Louis smiles, patting Harry's shoulder before grabbing his hand and dragging him off again."Lou, you alright?" Harry asks, stopping the both of them. Louis turns and nods quickly. "You're like, all over the place." Right, but Louis's  _always_  all over the place."No, you're just slow. Go get me another drink." He hands his cup to Harry and shoos hims off, eyes scanning the crowd of people and hoping he sees someone he knows and maybe doesn't dislike too much. He crosses his arms and purses his lips, getting impatient and making his way into the crowd. Harry will be able to find him, right? Harry always finds him.Different people say hi to him as he makes his way through and he if he weren't drunk and had control of things he said, he'd stop and pretend to remember who they were. It's not that he thought he was too important to remember anyone, but his memory was shitty when he was drunk and he didn't feel like embarrassing himself because he forgot the name of some A-List actress or something like that.He finds Niall after a few minutes, making out with a girl that he doesn't recognize. He contemplates ruining the moment and bothering Niall, but he decides to be a good citizen and let Niall have his chance at finally getting laid. It only happens like, twice a year, anyways."Louis!" Louis glances around, grinning when he sees Zayn...and Liam. Right, he said they could interact at this party. Whatever, it's fine. They've got a couple of months before the live shows start, anyways. Let Zayn and Liam have their fun for now. "Thank you so much for keeping me on, bro.""You're fucking amazing, Zayn," He says, then turns to Liam. "You, too. Would've loved to have you both on my team."Liam just shrugs. "It is what it is, right? If I had to lose to anyone, it'd be Z," He says. Louis raises an eyebrow.  _Z_?He ignores it because you know, friends have nicknames for each other. It's a common trend amongst friends. Mates. Pals. Bros. Lads. All that shit. "You've both got a big chance," He tells them. "I've got to go, though. People to see and some shit like that." Zayn and Liam nod, getting back into their conversation . What it's about, Louis doesn't know. But they're laughing and Zayn's eyes are lighting up, kinda like the way Louis's does when Harry tells one of his stupid jokes and it's so bad that he  _has_  to laugh at how bad it is.Holy shit, Zayn likes Liam.  _Called it._ Louis smiles to himself as he wanders around the party, maneuvering through the bodies until he's reached a dead end. Where the fuck was Harry with his drink? He's tried of watching models flirt with rock stars and hear about someone's latest role that they've landed. Harry was his  _rock_  during parties like this. They'd get drunk and sometimes high and make fun of all the other celebrities that think they're hot shit. It was practically tradition since they met.He sighs after ten minutes of waiting for Harry, squinting and looking around at all of the people. He gives up, walking up to an actor that he's pretty sure came out as gay at some point in his career and chatting him up.Actors, he hates actors. Acting is great, really. Movies are good and all that, but actors are just full of themselves usually and he didn't have time for that. But he's had about seven drinks, this one has a pretty face and he's tired of waiting for Harry.He spends fifteen minutes flirting with this guy before there's a tap on his shoulder. He silently thanks whoever it was, turning around and smiling brightly when he sees that it's Harry with a couple of drinks in his hands."Like I said, all over the place," Harry teases. Louis laughs, forgetting all about the actor and the conversation about his upcoming movie (which seemed shit in Louis's opinion). "Who was that, then?" He asks when the actor walks away. Louis shrugs, grabbing his drink from Harry."I don't know, but he's an actor." Harry scrunches his nose when Louis says that. Louis grins, poking Harry's nose. "How much have you had to drink, Lou?"Louis shrugs, drinking out of the cup Harry gave him. "A lot.""I can tell.""That's the point," Louis says. "Come dance with me." He finishes his drink, putting cup down and motioning for Harry to finish his. Harry rolls his eyes and drinks most of his before putting the cup down next to Louis's. "Slowpoke." Harry proves him wrong, though, grabbing his hand and pulling him into the crowd of people.Louis pulls Harry in close, grinding his hips against Harry's. This was a thing that friends did, right? Louis wasn't pushing it? Him and Harry did this all the time, it was simply platonic. Friends are allowed to dance with other friends.Louis gets caught up in his thoughts for a minutes, mentally screaming  _"fuck it",_  grabbing the front of Harry's shirt and pulling him down until Louis feels his soft, warm lips against his own. Harry's taken of guard, but adjusts quickly and places his hands on Louis's hips. He pulls the shorter boy as close to him as possible, ignoring the people that are now staring at them.The kiss lasts a few seconds longer before Louis pulling away, he stares at Harry for a moment before he realizes what he's done and panic takes over his emotions. "I need-- I need to go," He mutters, pushing himself away from Harry and pushing his way through everyone. Harry follows after him, as usual, but Louis does his best at losing him, locking himself in one of Niall's spare bedrooms and ignoring the knock on the door fifteen minutes later. He especially ignores it when Harry's voice follows."Lou, I know you're in there." Louis doesn't respond. "I know the kiss was just a drunk thing." No it wasn't. "We can forget about it, if you want." And that's the thing, Louis  _doesn't_   want to forget about it. He wants Harry to tell him that the kiss meant something to him just like it met something to Louis. He wants Harry to kiss him again and tell him that he's been waiting to do that for as long as Louis has. He wants to be able to kiss Harry without thinking of how he's fucked their friendship and has probably made things weird between them.But that's not how it works."You'll probably forget about it tomorrow morning, but um, text me tomorrow? I'm going to LA for our filming break, get some songwriting done, maybe. Won't be back until live shows. Just-- Yeah. See you soon, Lou."Louis lets out a groan into one of the pillows when he's sure the coast was clear. What the fuck was he doing? He was twenty five not fifteen, he should be able to fucking  _kiss_  someone without being worried about the consequences. That was the whole point of being out. Being able to kiss whoever he wanted and not have it be such a big deal. But here were was, sulking at a  _kick ass_  party because he decided he couldn't control himself and kissed his best mate of six years. What a fucking dumb move.

* * *

 

  
He does what any normal person in his situation would do and forgets. Or at least, he pretends to.

He did text Harry the next day, deciding that pretending he forgot about the kiss would save all awkward conversation and it would never be brought up again. His theory proves to be correct, as him and Harry are like normal for the entire two months that they had off of filming.Harry sends him stupid pictures of himself while he's in LA and Louis does the same while he's back home in Doncaster. They call each other and Skype constantly like they usually do when they're away, catching each other up on whatever they can think of.Then come the end of their break and two weeks before Live Shows begin, they're both back in London for more promo and Louis's kind of nervous because he hasn't actually  _seen_  Harry in person since the party. It wouldn't be any different than Skyping, hopefully, but maybe Harry was waiting until they were together to bring up the kiss. Or maybe Louis will forget about not knowing about the kiss and accidentally say something about it."Lewis," Harry says as he enters Louis's dressing room"Harold," Louis replies, standing from the make up chair and smirking. Harry's here, right in front of him and it's like everything is normal again. Like Louis didn't kiss his two months ago at Niall's party and they were just proper, platonic best friends. And Louis would rather have that than have nothing at all."Missed you." Harry hugs him and Louis hugs back, constantly repeating to himself that they're  _just friends_  and Harry probably hasn't even thought about the kiss since it's happened. He had other things to do, like write songs and party is LA with other famous people that Louis didn't know nor care to know. Harry's hipster clique wasn't Louis's favourite crowd and he liked to pretend that they didn't exist half the time. So far it was working."Missed you more. Time for you to get dolled up, though. Lou wants you in your dressing room for hair and make up."Harry pouts, pulling out of the hug. "Photoshoots are the worst.""The camera loves you,  _darling_ _,"_  Louis says, mocking the photographer they get for all of their promo photoshoots. Harry snorts and laughs. " _ _Lewis,__  I think it's time for a haircut.""Never  _ever_  cut your hair," Harry says in a serious tone. Louis grins, running a hand through his hair, even though Lou would probably kill him for it later. Oh well, s'not like it would stay intact forever. She couldn't have expected him not to mess with it at all, right? Lou knew him better than that."As long as you don't cut yours," Louis says, pulling off Harry's beanie and smiling brightly. Harry rolls his eyes and reaches for his beanie, but Louis holds it away from him, shaking his head. "Nope, holding this hostage until  _after_  our photoshoot."Harry frowns, but shakes out his hair and temporarily fixes it as best as he can. Louis reaches forward, readjusting a few strands and smiling softly. It's quiet between the two of them until Louis can't stand the silence anymore."You should go before Lou kills you for making her run late," He warns. Harry nods quickly, turning around and beginning to walk out of Louis's dressing room. "See you in a bit," He says, but Harry doesn't hear him. He shrugs, facing the mirror in his dressing room and staring at his reflection. He gazes down at Harry's beanie in his hand and bites his lip. Lou was going to absolutely murder him for this, but fuck it. He can do promo in a beanie. He's done it before and he'll do it again. What were they going to do, sue him?He quickly pulls the beanie on over his hair, leaving the fringe out purposely. He gives himself a once over in the mirror and smiles. The outfit looked even  _better_  now, so in reality, Lou and Caroline should be  _thanking_  him for stealing Harry's beanie.He leaves his dressing room, walking to Harry's and watching as Lou messed with his hair. "Absolutely stunning, Harold. Lou, you need a raise."Lou glances up, giving him an annoyed look when she sees the beanie. "Louis! I  _just_  finished your hair," She complains."Whoops," He shrugs. "Sorry," He says, with as much sincerity as he can muster up. It's not a lot. Lou just rolls her eyes and continues fixing Harry's hair.

 

Harry finally looks up in the mirror, seeing Louis with his beanie in the reflection and smiling. "S'that your idea of holding something hostage?" He asks, raising an eyebrow. Louis notices Lou scoff beside him, but he ignores it and grins at Harry. "Looks good on you."

 

"Everything looks good on me," Louis points out. Harry shrugs and Louis takes that as a silent agreement. 

 

* * *

The first week of rehearsals comes faster than Louis is prepared for. He's rushing around, making sure each of his members has their song and is practicing it the way they should be. Being a coach was a lot of responsibility and Louis's not sure why he ever took the job in the first place. Oh right, Harry thought it would be a fun experience for the both of them. That's the last time he ever lets Harry make the decisions for the both of them. But in all honesty, doing the show wasn't really bad at all and he probably wouldn't trade it for anything else. Well, finally meeting Beckham after years of trying would be nice, but he'll save that for another day.

 

"Zayn, do that again," He yells, which is completely unnecessary since they're only about ten feet away from he other, but he's loud and obnoxious and he's try to get Zayn to be that way, too. He's seen him at the party when he's comfortable around people, Zayn was  _just like_  Louis. And if Louis could find a way to get him to be like that all the time, it would make the next ten weeks go by much faster.

 

Zayn nods, waiting for the track to star playing before singing the song. Louis stops the music in the middle of the song. "Was something wrong?" Zayn asks. Louis shakes his head and motions for Zayn to come sit down next to him. Zayn does, biting his lip. Honestly, if Zayn weren't probably in love with Liam and it weren't against the rules, all of Louis's rehearsal session with Zayn would just be filled with shameless flirting.

 

"Tomorrow's the first live show and you've killed the rehearsals all week. Which is good, but so is a break," Louis says. Zayn nods, slouching back in the seat. "Let's chat then, yeah? We've got another thirty minutes until you rehearsal is over."

 

"Alright, sounds cool," Zayn says. Louis smiles, prepared to ask any and every question he can think of, just to get Zayn to open up more. 

 

Their conversation goes past thirty minutes, which is fine because Zayn was Louis's last rehearsal of the day and he doesn't really have any other responsibilities. By the end of the initial half an hour, Louis's got Zayn to tease him and make stupid jokes (not Harry type of stupid jokes, but still ridiculous). He almost wants to ask about Liam, but decides against it, not wanting Zayn to close up on him again. He likes this Zayn, the one that's funny and weird and says stupid things sometimes. 

 

"Is there like, a thing going on with you and Harry?" Zayn asks. Louis blinks a couple of times, replying the question a few times. Why would-- Wait, Zayn was at the party to. Actually, a lot of people were at that party. People who were probably extremely wasted and couldn't even tell it was Louis and Harry snogging in the middle of the room, but Zayn most likely saw the two of them. "There's always been rumors in magazines and stuff. You two are close, wouldn't be hard to believe."

 

Louis shakes his head quickly. "No, nothing between me and Harry. We're just best friends, s'all."

 

"You don't seem happy about that, though." God  _dammit,_  Zayn. You finally start talking to Louis as if he's a friend and not a mentor, and now you're just-- You're making Louis talking about  _feelings._  "It's not my place or anything-"  _No, it fucking isn't._  "But I think you two would be good together. I don't know, you're just really comfortable around each other."

 

"Like you and Liam," Louis says before he can stop himself. Zayn looks down at his lap and Louis's sure that if he weren't tan, he'd be able to see the blush on his face."I know you've got a thing for him. You're like, Romeo and Juliet. Just don't die though, please?"

 

Zayn lets out a small laugh, looking back up at Louis. "Liam's really great. M'really glad we met." Louis knows that feeling. He's known that feeling for the entire six years that he's known Harry. It's like, every day that he sees Harry, he has to sit and think about what would've happen if one of them had left right after the Brits, or if one of them would have gone to a different after party instead. 

 

He thinks about how they only grew up about two hours away from each other, or how Harry told him that he was one of the reasons Harry had decided to take music seriously. That they had gone to the same concert when Louis was sixteen and Harry was fourteen. There were a lot of coincidences surrounding Louis and Harry, but Louis's never taken the time to point them all out to Harry. He'd have to realize it one day, right? It's fate and Louis was a big believer in it. 

 

"And I'm kind of glad that we're not on the same team, you know? Means we'd get to stay in the competition together longer, assuming that I get far enough in the first place," Zayn says. 

 

" _Bullshit_ ," Louis says, taking Zayn by surprise. By the end of the ten weeks, Zayn probably won't flinch when Louis said something loudly. He'd have to get used to it by then. "You're one of the best, Zayn. If you lose to anyone that isn't Liam, then I'd be shocked. Hell, you've got a  _great_  chance at beating Liam. Your voice is amazing."

 

"Thanks man." Zayn grins. "You were my favorite coach on the show, other than Niall. My older sister, Doniya, was really into you when you first started out and she'd play your CDs all the time. I used to sing along to them sometimes and she'd tell me to shut up because I can't even sing."

 

"Your sister is a liar," Louis says. "Has great taste in music, but she is a  _liar._ " Zayn laughs and nods. "M'glad I seem to be the favorite, though. I'd assume everyone loved Niall."

 

"S'what the polls-"

 

"Yeah yeah, I've heard about those fucking polls," Louis says and waves him off. "I was number  _three_. I was  _below_  Harry. Like alright, losing to Niall is acceptable, but I lost my  _dignity_  losing to that curly haired twat."

 

"Only because he's won two-"

 

"Don't you dare," Louis threatens and Zayn grins. "Harry brings that up  _all the time_. Proper annoying now." He smiles softly as he says it.

 

"Then why are you smiling like that?" Zayn asks. Louis immediately frowns, silently swearing to himself. Stupid Harry. "Liam said that he smiles like that when he talks about you, too. You should make a move or something."

 

Louis shakes his head. "Tried already. Didn't go as planned." He thinks about the drunk kiss from months prior and how he completely fucked that up. He should be old enough to ask someone out without thinking of the repercussions, but it was different when it was your best friend. If something goes wrong, you lose your best friend as well as the love of your life. He'd rather have one if he can't have the other. 

 

"If it was that drunken snog you guys had at Niall's party, that's hardly making a move." Well. Zayn thinks he knows everything, doesn't he? "Make a different move." Louis groans, gently dropping his head onto the table. This is what he gets for making Zayn talk to him. He gets relationship advice. "Just saying."

 

"Stop saying," Louis says, but it comes out slightly muffled. Zayn doesn't say anything about it, though, so Louis assumes he heard him anyways. "It's been six years. If something were meant to happen, it'd happen."

 

"Sure bro," Zayn says, standing up from his chair. "I'll make sure to say I told you so when something finally happens." Louis looks up to say something else, but Zayn's already left. He furrows his eyebrows. Is Zayn even real? He sure doesn't seem like it. 

 

* * *

Louis hasn't been paying attention to anyone's performance after the initial team performances. His team had sang Wrecking Ball and then it was all blurry after that. He had even ignored the musical guest that had come (no offense to Olly Murs and Ariana Grande). Each time he has to speak, he says something about their confidence and how great they sounded and hope that it's good enough to pass. Thankfully, no one's questioned his lack of vocabulary and it's soon Zayn's turn to perform. He simply didn't have an interest in anyone that wasn't Zayn or Liam.

 

He sits up when the lights are dimming, though, smiling when he hears the music start and Zayn singing.

 

" _Don't you think that it's boring how people talk. Making smart with their words again, well I'm bored. Because I'm doing this for the thrill of it, killin' it. Never not chasing a million things I want. And I am only as young as the minute is full of it Getting pumped up on the little bright things I bought. But I know they'll never own me,_ " Zayn sings, strutting to the middle of the stage.  _"I'll be the class clown, you'll be the beauty queen in tears. It's a new art form showing people how little we care. We're so happy, even when we're smilin' out of fear. Let's go down to the tennis court, and talk it up like yeah."_

  
_"It looked alright in the pictures. Getting caught's half of the trip though, isn't it? I fall apart with all my heart. And you could watch from your window. And you can watch from your window. I_ _'ll be the class clown, you'll be the beauty queen in tears. It's a new art form showing people how little we care. We're so happy, even when we're smilin' out of fear. Let's go down to the tennis court, and talk it up like yeah. Let's go down to the tennis court, and talk it up like yeah._ _"_

Louis claps along with everyone else, sending Zayn a smile and sitting up while the other judges compliment his performance. He sits smugly when Harry's speaking, but frowns when he sees the look that Zayn's giving him. He narrows his eyes quickly, then shakes his head and looks in Harry's direction before it's time for him to speak.

 

"You blew me away with that performance," Louis says, grinning. "The vibes from the entire thing were just amazing as usual and you've really gotten more comfortable on stage. Great job, man. I loved it."

"Thank you, Louis," Zayn says before he's being ushered off stage. 

 

Louis bullshits his way through the next couple of performances, prepared to do the same with this last one once the lights dim down. He's mistaken when the music begins playing and he hears Liam's voice. " _Going back to the corner where I first saw you, gonna camp in my sleeping bag, I'm not gonna move. Got some words on cardboard, got your picture in my hand. Saying, 'If you see this girl can you tell her where I am?'_ "

 

  
_"'Cause if one day you wake up and find that you're missing me, and your heart starts to wonder where on this earth I could be. Thinking maybe you'll come back here to the place that we'd meet, and you'll see me waiting for you on the corner of the street. So I'm not moving, I'm not moving."_  Alright, Louis's gotta compliment him on his high notes and falsettos.  _"People talk about the guy that's waiting on a girl, oh ohh. There are no holes in his shoes but a big hole in his world, hmm. And maybe I'll get famous as the man who can't be moved. Maybe you won't mean to but you'll see me on the news. And you'll come running to the corner, 'cause you'll know it's just for you. I'm the man who can't be moved. I'm the man who can't be moved."_

_"Going back to the corner where I first saw you. Gonna camp in my sleeping bag, I'm not gonna move."_

Louis claps naturally, impressed by the performance and how well Liam did. He feels Harry's eyes on him, but he's sure if he looks at him, he'll have that stupid fucking smirk on his face. The really attractive, yet stupid, smirk. That one. 

 

"That was one of the best performances tonight, Liam," Louis says when it's time for him to speak. He's not lying. His and Zayn's were honestly the best that night and will probably continue being the best. "It kept me interested and I loved the entire thing. Your voice, like I've said before, just fits with music , you know? It's one of my favorite things about you."

 

He sits back while Niall and Cher talk, then looks any place but where Harry is when the younger boy is speaking. 

 

"Liam, that was absolutely amazing. I love how into it you get," Harry says. Louis can feel the smugness in his voice. "You don't think about the pressure. You feel the song and you think about that. Like second nature, you know? It's great." Louis nods in agreement. He can't really argue with any of that. "And you've got like, this confidence. Like you belong on the stage and you know it. That plays a big role in how well you perform."

 

"Thank you," Liam says, grinning and then being guided off the stage.

 

And if Liam and Zayn both get a fast pass to the next live show during the first result show, it's not really a surprise to anyone. 

 

* * *

The second week of live shows goes by quickly and smoothly, Zayn and Liam both getting the most votes. Louis, though, still has two of his team members left, Zayn and the girl, Eva, Harry's only got Liam, Niall has that one contestant he had been going on about, Brittany, and Cher's team had all gotten eliminated.  

 

Rehearsal's with Zayn had gone great, as usually. Louis like to consider them friends a this point, usually spending another forty minutes after rehearsals talking about anything, really. Sometimes Louis would press Zayn on Liam (and Zayn thinks Louis hasn't noticed his late night sneaking out of the hotel, but he has and Harry's noticed Liam sneaking at around the same time), or Zayn will try to get more information on Louis feelings for Harry. It'd work every once in a while and Louis would find himself going on about how he felt about Harry, the way Harry laughs at his own stupid jokes, but because it's him it's endearing. How Harry usually doesn't bother to fix his hair around Louis because it's just Louis, so he'll leave it down in a fringe and always have to fix it to get it out of his eyes. 

 

But other times he'll catch himself before he starts talking and he'll tell Zayn that they'll save it for another day.

 

"Zayn," Louis says to him the night of the finals. "This is it, bro. No matter what, the past few weeks were great and you're easily the best I've ever gotten a chance to mentor. Even if you don't win, you still have a good chance at making it, alright?" He pulls Zayn into a hug that lasts a few seconds before they're both pulling away. "I'm proud of you."

 

"Thank you, Louis," Zayn tells him. "S'been great being on your team. Best experience of my life. You were more of a friend than a mentor." Louis smiles at that, giving a small nod before someone's tapping on his shoulder and telling him that he has to go with the other coaches for their group performance. He gives Zayn one last smile before walking to where the other three coaches were and placing a hand on Harry's shoulder. 

 

Harry glances at the hand before looking down at Louis and smiling. He stops Niall in the middle of what he's saying, nodding his head over to a separate backstage area. Louis blinks a couple of times, confused, but follows Harry anyways.

 

"You remember, don't you?" Harry asks and wow, that threw Louis off a little bit. "The kiss," Harry explains and Louis's eyes widen. 

 

"Did Zayn-- Wait, did  _Liam_  tell you I knew? Because I told Zayn, but I know he's been sneaking off with Liam when he thinks I'm asleep--" Louis's cut off by Harry's lips being pressed onto his own. He stumbles back a bit, but Harry grabs onto his waist before he can fall. Louis hesitates, but wraps his arms around Harry's neck, melting into the kiss. It's better than the one they had when Louis was drunk. He can feel the warmth from Harry, appreciate the way their lips move together in sync, like they were made for each other. 

 

They pull away seconds later, both of their faces flushed and their breathing heavy. "So," Louis finally says, biting his lips and waiting for Harry to say something to fill the silence between them.

 

"Did you know," Harry starts. "I have been in love with you since your first album came out." His first album, shit, that was  _nine_  years ago. Harry's been in love with him for  _nine years._  "I don't know what it was. Gemma got me your album for my birthday because she thought I'd like it and I did." Louis knows that part, yeah. Harry told him that story the first they had met. "Your voice though, I fell in love with that, first. Not to mention you're gorgeous, Lou," Harry says. Louis wants to pretend that he's not blushing, but Harry smiles and he thinks he gave himself away. "And when I saw interviews, I fell even more in love with you and your personality. Then we met and- It was amazing, honestly."

 

"Nine years," Louis says, but more to himself than Harry.

 

"Nine years," Harry repeats. "If you win tomorrow, I take you out on a date." Louis nods slowly. "If I win, then you take me out on a date. Deal?"

 

"Okay. Yeah, right, okay," Louis stumbles over his words, but nods furiously and brings his lips back to Harry's until they hear their names being called for the coaches performance. Harry pulls away and grins lazily, walking away and sending Louis a wink before Louis remembers he's apart of the performance and follows.

 

* * *

Louis and Harry exchanged sneaky glances throughout the entire live shows, only paying attention to the performances when it was someone from their team performing. Or in their case, Liam and Zayn. They both fumbled over their feedback to the remaining contestants, smiling fondly at the other while they do. Niall gave them both looks and they know that they're going to be in for an interrogation later.

 

The results show goes by slowly after the girl from Louis's team gets sent home for having the least amount of votes. He's disappointed when he's down to one, but honestly, he's just glad he made it to the finals with anyone on his team. 

 

The last three performances before the results are possibly the greatest from the entire season. Liam smashed his version of Love Somebody and Zayn absolutely killed XO. Louis's not really sure how the votes are going to be tonight, but it's not too long until he finds out. 

 

The last three contestants get brought on stage and Louis can spy the subtle glances that Zayn and Liam are giving each other. They're together, he's sure of it. Well, not right now because of the competition, but he's sure they will be afterwards because he caught them kissing on the one night he decided to follow Zayn out the hotel. He totally called it. Niall owes him ten quid. 

 

Marvin quickly announces that Brittany, the girl on Niall's team, has placed as third runner up and she's escorted off the stage while Zayn and Liam remain. This is it, then. Louis against Harry. Harry against Louis. The big moment.

 

"You've all voted," Marvin said, holding the envelope with the results in his hand. Louis sits up in his seating, moving forward in his seat and biting his lip in anticipation. He hated this part of the season. Patience wasn't his best quality. "The winner of this season is..." It goes silence for a moment and Louis quickly looks over at Harry, who's just as anxious as everyone one else. Louis lets out a sigh, drumming his fingers on the front of his chair. Anytime now, Marvin. "Zayn Malik, Team Louis!" Louis's jaw drops when he hears his and Zayn's names, his eye widening when he realizes he had won. He  _beat_  Harry. 

 

Liam and Zayn hug on stage, which Louis thinks lasts a bit longer than a platonic hug should be, but he'll mention that later. Marvin hands the microphone to Zayn after the embrace is broken and Zayn stutters his words.

 

"Um, wow, I can't believe this," Zayn finally says, smiling. "It's been a great experience being on the show and having Louis as my mentor. Yeah, uh, hopefully this means things will only get on from here." His speech is short, but it sums everything up and fits his personality. 

 

Louis stands up quickly, running up to the stage and pulling Zayn into a quick, tight hug. "Told you," He says quietly, making sure only Zayn can here. He smiles after he pulls away, walking back down the stage, but not before subtly looking over at Harry and hiding a grin when the younger boy winks and mouths 'date?'. Louis lets out a soft chuckle, doing a thumbs up quickly before any of the cameras can catch it. 

 

Harry keeps true to his word and takes Louis out on a date a couple of weeks after the last result show. No one thinks anything of it until there's pictures leaked of Louis reaching over the table to grab Harry's hand and Harry's photographed the morning after, sneaking out of Louis's place. It might've been the tweets that did it, though.

  
**@Harry_Styles:** _Well...I guess the cat's out of the bag._

 

**@Louis_Tomlinson:** _**@Harry_Styles** I'm in love with an idiot._

 

**@NiallOfficial: _@Louis_Tomlinson @Harry_Styles_** _fucking finally._

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> i'm on [tumblr](pointstohome.tumblr.com)!


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